


how to akumatize Nathalie Sancoeur

by poppicock



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 10:15:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20872535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppicock/pseuds/poppicock
Summary: Mayura looks a little too much like Hawkmoth's assistant -- so Gabriel and Nathalie hatch a plan to have Nathalie akumatized by her demanding boss to divert suspicion. These things are easier said than done.





	how to akumatize Nathalie Sancoeur

“I’m sure it was a joke,” Nathalie said quietly, though she didn’t believe it herself either. They had detransformed after another failed akuma attack, and were now milling around in the attic. 

_Aren’t you tired of being Hawkmoth’s little assistant? _

Gabriel looked at her warily. “It could mean nothing, but the comment does mirror the dynamic of our secret identities, Nathalie. We should be concerned.” 

Nathalie glanced down. “That’s always been the case, sir. I’m implicated as your assistant regardless of whether or not I’m Mayura, sir.” 

“I’m aware.” He let out a breath. “It may be a good idea to akumatize you, to divert suspicion. Publically,” he quickly added, as she had been akumatized before.

She stared at him. “I see.” 

“You’d be good at it,” he supplied, “You’re very competent as Mayura.” 

“What if I reveal our identities?” She asked him, her eyebrows pushed together slightly. “How would that work?” 

“You’d likely be lucid,” he explained, “And we could engineer the situation. Maybe someone gets your coffee wrong on a bad day, or we invite over a client whose been especially rude to you in the past, or–”

“Or I get upset with you,” she interrupted him. “We’d be keeping both of our identities safe, sir. Why would Hawkmoth attack himself? Why would Mayura get akumatized?” 

He nodded. It seemed like an excellent idea. “I see your point.”

XXX

“Well?” 

Gabriel looked up. “What is it?” 

“You haven’t tried to akumatize me, sir.” Nathalie explained. “It’s been two days.” 

He stood. “I have trouble upsetting you, to be frank.” Gabriel cleared his throat. “You have to understand, Nathalie, I hired you for your emotional stability. I’m an empath. I’ve always appreciated that about you. You’ve never been extremely angry with me while in the office.” 

Nathalie pressed her lips together. “I can try to get angry, I suppose.” 

“Sure,” Gabriel sat down. “What should we do?” 

“How about you list off things you dislike about my work?” Nathalie suggested, placing her hands behind her back. 

Gabriel shot her a tight smile, and touched something on his screen, pulling up a document. “Of course. I was just submitting your performance review to human resources anyway.” 

“Were you?” Nathalie asked him. He sent in performance reviews every quarter for senior management, of course. Nathalie, as an assistant, was only reviewed once a year, and she was typically incredibly nervous about his reports. 

Didn’t she know this was coming? Gabriel glanced over the review, but her usual anxiety hadn’t even spiked. She was cool. 

Not only that, but his review of her was glowing. It was arguably better than reviews from years prior. He had no criticisms of her whatsoever. It was a small disaster, how had he forgotten that oversight?

“You’ve been coming in late a lot, these past six months,” he exhaled, looking up at her, trying to remember things he meant to write down but decided against including.

“I do not recall being late, sir.” She was lying. They both knew that she was lying. Maybe she was arguing for the sake of arguing.

“Perhaps you’ve been late 5 times in the past six months. I’ve also noticed slightly longer lunch breaks, and slower response times to emails. You have been noticeably slacking, and I’m disappointed in you. I’ve caught you distracted or unfocused during meetings with clients and members of the executive team.” 

Nathalie nodded politely at that. It was fair. Her second life as Mayura required a significant amount of energy, and it was normal that her work life would suffer as a result.

Still, Nathalie was cool. 

“I will do my best to improve my performance, in that case.”

He swallowed. “I will be placing you on an action plan to help you improve your results. If I don’t see quantifiable improvement within the next six months, I will be terminating you from your position.” 

None of it was true, obviously. Nathalie smiled slightly. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t think this is upsetting to me at all.” 

Gabriel exhaled. “Fair enough.” 

“I don’t think you’re upset, either.” Nathalie added. “With all due respect, I’m fairly confident that you won’t fire me.” 

“I would not fire you,” he agreed. “We can try again.”

“Perhaps it would be wise to come up with a list of things you dislike about me personally,” Nathalie said, “We can try again tomorrow.” 

XXX

“Nathalie, is the coffee ready?” Gabriel asked her, entering the dining room. “Good morning, Adrien,” he added in passing to his son. 

“I’ll get that for you right now, sir,” putting her own cup down and heading back into the kitchen. 

Adrien glanced over to his father. “You normally get your own coffee?” 

“I know,” he replied, “I’m not in the mood this morning.”

When Nathalie returned and handed him the cup on a small saucer. He took a sip and nearly spit it out. He had not checked that it was black coffee. Gabriel handed the cup back to her. “I haven’t taken cream in my coffee for five years, Nathalie.” 

She looked in the cup, and realized it wasn’t the usual black coffee he drank every morning. “Oh, I’m sorry, I think I prepared it how I usually drink it, sir. I wasn’t thinking.” 

“Please think harder, then.” 

“Of course, sir.” 

He rolled his eyes as she exited to the kitchen, and Adrien shot a glare at his father. “Is it really that big a deal, Father?” 

Gabriel smiled, “It’s always best to start off the morning right.” 

Adrien didn’t look appeased at all, but Nathalie reentered the dining room and he didn’t have to address his son whatsoever. She handed Gabriel a cup of black coffee and turned to the boy. “The car is waiting, Adrien. Is there anything else you need.” 

“I’m fine, Nat.” Adrien stood, grabbing his messenger back and saying goodbye before leaving the dining room. 

He turned to her. “Did you do that on purpose?” 

“No,” she murmured, “I apologize for the oversight, sir.” 

Gabriel nodded, “I should hope that you don’t get upset over messing up a coffee order. At least, not enough to be akumatized.” 

“You yelled at me over coffee when I was an intern, so it’s entirely possible,” Nathalie replied, in a clipped voice, before slipping back to her usual, unaffected self. “How did your list go?” 

He swallowed. A blank piece of paper burned a whole in his pocket, mocking him.

“I don’t think this will work,” he said finally. “I don’t think I can do it.” 

She frowned, but nodded. “I understand. I think I might’ve been able to do it, back then–when I was an intern, I mean.” Nathalie chuckled a bit. “I would get so angry, sir.” 

Gabriel shrugged. “I was an empath then, you know.” 

Her eyebrows shot up. “You were?” 

“I know I was tough,” he admitted, “I hired you because you were the most emotionally stable twenty-year-old I interviewed. It was an added bonus that you were partially qualified for the job. I knew you’d handle anything.” Gabriel smiled. 

Nathalie, as unemotional as ever, took pause, and finally said, “Thank you, I suppose.”

“You roll with every punch. I couldn’t do that if I tried,” he explained. “I don’t think I could ever akumatize you. I truly admire that about you.” 

XXX

Gabriel had nearly forgotten about their failed mission to akumatize Nathalie. He didn’t think about it at all, and he didn’t want to put Nathalie in a situation where she’d be out of control anyway. Several weeks had passed and they quickly fell back into their usual routines. 

Well, as usual as they could be. Nathalie needed help. 

“Nathalie,” he called her over to his desk, “I have a new assignment for you.” 

She perked up at that, as she was always excited for new projects, even if that feeling was muted. “What can I do for you, sir?” 

“I need you to let our hiring managers know that I’m looking for a junior assistant,” he told her. “I will send you and HR a summary of the new role and they will compile a list of job duties and responsibilities. You will receive an updated list of your job requirements, as well as a raise and signing bonus.” 

“Alright,” Nathalie said, her voice slightly affected. “What else, sir?” 

“I would like you to form a cross-functional team to select and field candidates amongst our current pool of interns,” he replied. “You and I will make the final decisions. Is there anything else?” 

“Why?” 

Gabriel blinked. “Why what?” 

“Why do you need to hire anyone, sir?” Nathalie asked, “Am I not performing to your standards?” 

“Oh,” he said softly. “You are an excellent employee. You know that. However, it hasn’t escaped my notice that you’ve recently accepted more responsibilities than you can obviously handle.” 

Nathalie could not contain the flash of shock that flickered over her face. “I’m not sure what you mean, sir.” 

“Mayura, Nathalie,” he told her gently, trying to appease her as he felt storms going on in her mind. “It’s a huge undertaking. I know your strength isn’t what it used to be, I know you’re tired, I just–” 

“_–Sir–” _She indignantly interrupted him, but he went on anyway. 

“–_I _just want to make things easier around here,” he clarified. “We will see how it goes. I’m trying to make the best decisions for us, as well as the company.” 

Nathalie exhaled. “I find this to be insulting, sir.” 

“Do not be too proud, Sancoeur,” he ordered her, “Do not be selfish. We have to look out for the good of the company, and things are slacking around here. _You_ have slacked. You’re damaging my professionalism to my employees and my clients.” 

She was glaring at him, but Nathalie didn’t say a word. Gabriel continued, firmly stating: 

“I will hire a junior assistant–they will make the coffee, they will answer phone calls, they will make sure Adrien doesn’t sneak off, and I won’t hear another complaint from you about it, is that clear?” 

“It is clear, sir. Please excuse me.” She finally responded, turning on her heel and leaving the office. 

Gabriel slammed back down in his chair. He had never seen her so furious. In the fifteen years she had worked for him, this was the first time Nathalie truly wished to murder him, her boss. It wasn’t fading. If anything, as Nathalie walked away, that unbridled rage was likely bursting from her turtleneck. 

“…Was that a part of the plan, Master?” 

Gabriel frowned, saying nothing to Nooroo as he turned and pressed his fingers into the keypad on his wife’s portrait. When he stepped into the lair, he transformed into Hawkmoth. 

The thought of akumatizing Nathalie filled his insides with bile, but he couldn’t let discomfort get in the way of his goals now. Being a villain had nothing to do with comfort. 


End file.
